Die Grippe, Schlangenbisse und das Covid-19 Virus: Jacob Glanville von Netflix’s

Jacob Glanville from the new Netflix series “Pandemic”, reports on the groundbreaking progress that he and his team at Distributed Bio have made in the world of biotechnologically manufactured medicine. 

This week, we sat down with Distributed Bio’s CEO, Jacob Glanville, a field leader in advanced computational immunotechnology in biomedicine. The new Netflix series “Pandemic” offers a glimpse into the teams currently working tirelessly to prevent a global outbreak of the disease, and Glanville is a highly respected expert with an incredible track record. Before founding Distributed Bio, Jacob Glanville earned a PhD from Stanford University and spent four years as a senior scientist at Pfizer. The team, led by Sarah Ives, Managing Director of Influenza Centivax at Distributed Bio, is currently developing a new, universal type of groundbreaking computational technology. We are currently using high-throughput computational coupling to characterize how many unique epitopes can exist on the surface of a viral envelope protein or pathogen protein. We then use various computational methods to identify the distinct elements of each type of viral envelope protein from differently evolved versions of the same pathogen. This is the core of our vaccine technology. We administer a range of very different variants simultaneously at a low dose, so that the shared sites have a sufficiently high dose to be able to respond to it.”

This technology allows Distributed Bio to rapidly produce vaccines for almost any virus in a safe environment. For example, due to the recent SARS coronavirus outbreak, Glanville is collaborating with the US military. A World Health Organization program allows the production of pseudovirion versions of the disease, which can be studied without any risk: “They take chickenpox and overflow the outer layer of the chickenpox sac with the cost protein of more serious diseases, like the coronavirus. So now it behaves and looks like the coronavirus. It’s like the crunchy outer M&M shell, similar to the coronavirus, but inside it’s more like soft, sticky chocolate, like chickenpox. It’s not particularly dangerous because of that. We’re building a relationship with the military through which we can use our antibody detection library in conjunction with pseudovirion particles. This allows us to quickly discover antibodies, for example against SARS, without bringing SARS risk into our lab.”

However, their work is not limited to combating viral diseases. One of Distributed Bio’s leading projects focuses on creating a universal antivenom for snakebites. The need for an affordable and easily accessible antivenom is high, as 80,000 to 130,000 people are killed by snakebites every year, most of them in developing countries. “There are approximately 550 snake species, and each has 20 to 70 proteins. It sounds like a large number of proteins to analyze. But when I analyze them, 10 different homologous groups that all snake species share become clear.” “Once it was determined that a universal approach was both possible and feasible, how were the necessary antibodies developed?” “Our team, led by Tim Friede, Managing Director of Herpetology at Distributed Bio, Sawsan Youssef, Scientific Director, and Raymond Newland, Senior Scientist, found a man who loves snakes so much that he injected himself with snake venom from all over the world for 17 years, and we tested his blood. We used laboratory and computational methods to identify a range of antibodies that share a common determining factor.”

In a team whose roles range from data engineers and data scientists to bioinformatics specialists, the ability to collaborate is particularly important. How does Glanville create such a collaborative environment? “I try to provide employees with as much training as possible. In my opinion, continuous training reduces assumption errors. I think the most common reason why misunderstandings and errors occur is that employees don’t understand what another employee needs and what they’ve been taught by the previous person. When employees are able to incorporate their colleagues’ expertise into their work, this risk is reduced.”

Glanville grew up in Guatemala and is therefore acutely aware of the need for readily available and effective vaccines. The Western world, in particular, is becoming increasingly cautious regarding infections due to the high amount of misinformation currently circulating. He understands, however, that this is often related to trust. “It’s difficult to convey an epidemiological recommendation to the world’s population. Often, people perceive that not getting vaccinated is better. I hope that an effective vaccine will dispel this misconception. Unfortunately, the current problem with the flu vaccine is that it only works half the time. And this leads to people complaining. I hope that better vaccines and sensible communication will help change this misconception.” Regarding immediate concerns about the impact of the coronavirus, he returns to the issue of accessibility: “At the moment, I’m more worried about Ebola. It’s a bigger outbreak problem and in an area that is poorly served. I think China is quite good at solving medical problems.” If you would like to expand your team with the best in the industry, contact our expert advisors: For our German team, please call +49 30 217 899 21 or +49 30 217 deutschlandinfo@harnham.com. If you are looking for your next challenge and would like to join an innovative, world-leading company, we may have a role for you. See our latest job openings here. Pandemic is now available on Netflix. Watch the trailer below.